IF we were to come up with a list of footballing folk who Jose Mourinho has clashed with over the years, we would probably miss tonight's Champions League final because we would still be compiling it.

From referees to rival coaches to players to 99pc of the Italian population, the Special One has never been afraid to call others out over perceived slights.

But perhaps one of the stranger falling-outs took place recently when Phoenix Suns basketball star Steve Nash had a little dig at Inter's defensive tactics after their semi-final triumph over Barcelona.

Nash revealed what he reckons would be the line-up for the final and it read like this: Butt, Yashin, Banks, Zoff, Maier, Tomaszewski, Zubizarreta, Schmeichel, Clemens (we presume he meant Clemence), Higuita, Chilavert.

No prizes for spotting that the above-named are all goalkeepers. Truly, Nash's humour knows no bounds. Mourinho's response was typically withering, of course. "When I read comments by many real football people, they understood how well we played that game and how much credit the players deserve," Mourinho said last weekend.

"When I read some comments from some, I don't want to say stupid people; for example, I read a comment from one of the best basketball players in the NBA, Steve Nash. He was saying that Inter could play that game with 10 goalkeepers. Fortunately, he plays basketball. He understands nothing about football."

It seems a bit odd that Mourinho would even bother to mention Nash's comments, but then again this is a man who never misses a chance for a swipe at a perceived insult.

Anyway, it all ended amicably with Mourinho saying: "It is nothing. I hear he is a good man. There is no problem."